So, I’m not going to bore you with how I used to walk five miles barefoot in the snow to get to school. No, I’m not going to do that to you.
But here’s what I will do. I’ll ask you (yes, you), if you want the gold mine, or the coal mine?
I’ve been watching our young people, God bless ’em. I went to public school, so math is certainly not my strong point, but if I was a betting man, I’d bet only 5% of our young people are go-getters. You know the kind. Willing to work long, ridiculous hours to get ahead. They may not like it, but they would probably take phone calls from the office or customers after hours.
No offense, but I find a lot of our youth have unrealistic expectations. They attend college (some that are extremely expensive). They have student loans. And they expect a nine-to-five job starting at $150,000 a year as soon as they graduate. Awesome dude! OMG!
I remember a young man who became an engineer but couldn’t find a job when he graduated. What did he do? He moved to bumf%#ck Egypt and took a crappy, but high paying job. He hated it. But he needed to eat. Several years later, he got his dream job.
Here it is. Listen up. It’s called: PAYING YOUR DUES! Try as you may, you can’t bypass this. When I was a young man out of college, I had two small children, a house note, two car notes, and a fledgling business that made no money. I worked long hours for little if any pay. But I never did walk five miles barefoot in the snow to school. That’s because I live in Houston, and it doesn’t snow here.
I remember a young man who busted ass it in college while his friends stayed out and partied. He ended up an international banker and doing quite well. His friends – mostly greeters at Wal-Mart. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It seems like a really fun job.
So, here’s the thing. If someone offered you a job where the pay was so-so, the hours were long, the stress was high, but the rewards and potential were great, what would you do? What would you do if you were handed a gold mine? Would you take it on and make it your gold mine? Or, would you end up in the coal mine? I wonder? Hunger is a strong motivator.
I learn. I work hard. I write books. But I know if I don’t sell them, nobody will read them. They do quite well because I have mastered the art of the sale. I work with used dogs, trying to get them out of shelters and into homes. I’ve developed the art of the sale. Sometimes, most of the time, if you want something and want to succeed, you will work hard to accomplish that task, and be accomplished. There’s nothing wrong with hard work. It builds a little something called character. And does wonders for the self-esteem.
Even Santa knows who deserves a lump of coal. And most of the time they are slackers. The gold mine or the coal mine? Think about it. I know I do.
